Method of ironing garments



Sept. 4, 1923.

' C. H. BOYULS METHOD OF momma eAnimu'rs Filed Dec. 1 1921 Patented Sept. 4,1923.

cno n n. Bowie, orf izo'ursvttnn, KENTUCKY.

Mn'r-non or moraine GARMENTS.

T 0 all whom it may concern;

. Be 1t known that CnoIL H. BoYULs, e c tizen of theUnited States of'America, resid ing at Louisville, in the county of Jefferson ancl State of Kentucky, has invented certain new and useul Improvements in Methods of Ironing Garments, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates tothe art of iron-' In the case of open front shirts this has usu ally been done by the insertion of a collar button in the front b-uttonholes of thenccltband of such shirt. In the methods previously employed it hasbeen customary to place a shirt in this condition on a buck or board and then bring into contact with the bosom of the shirtv a hot pressing iron. This method is objectionable inasmuch as the portions of' the shirt which'overlap are not properly pressed by the iron; theupper surface of the underlyingportion andunder surface'of the overlying portion being un-,

affected 'or insufficiently affected by the action of the'iron. This has been sought to be overcome by the insertion of a metallic pressing strip between these portions of the shirt but-thisproduces into the ironing of the shirt an additional operation-which,on account of the carerequired in adjusting this strip, greatly retards the speed of the operation. Another method which has been used in an endeavorto'overcome this serious defeet is to button the collarband and then arrange the tail portions-0f the shirt in diverging relation, these tail portions being.

held clamps in that position. flhis partly overcomesthedifficulty since it al-I lows for the lower parts of the edge-portions of the opening to be pressed by the iron.

However, the portion ofthe shirt adjacent the neckband still remains improperly pressed and as ajnatural consequence it is necessary to' subject these portions of the shirt to an operation with an ordinary hand iron after .takingthe garmentgotf of the board Y Application filed Dece later 1, 1921; 'iSeria1'Noh519J23.

with the exertion ()ne' important object of the present invention is to so lmprovethe method of ironing'shirt hosoms in open front shirts that there .willbe no need of auxiliary pressing p strips or or any operation by a hand iron, the

bosom being completely and satisfactorily ironed inevery respect by the action of the ironing member. i p urthermore in the methods heretofore employed the bosom only of the shirt is ironed in this'operation while the major portion of the shirt has to be subjected to a second ironing operation of one sort or 'another. I r I second important object of the invention is the provisionof a method whereby the entire body ofthe shirt may be properly and effectively treated so, that when removed from the form all parts of the body will be left in 'the required smooth shape just as effectively as though the entire body had been hand ironed with great care.

- in addition to thisit is well known that a slipping or sliding of the iron over, the surface to be ironed aids greatly in accomplishing the required result especially in the treatment of, shirt bosoms.

Another important object of the inven-- tionis to so apply hot pressure to a shirt bosom that theepressing tool, while effectively exerting'ia yery heavy pressure, will at the same timeslip slightly over the surface, the. slipping being accomplished in a mannerwhich is of the greatest. pressure on the shirt. I

With the above and other objects in view,

as will be hereinafter apparent, the invention. consists in animproved method for treating a garment of the general type of an open frontshirt in such manner as to effectively smooth the entire body of the garment in a single operation. vThe accompanying drawings disclose general diagrammatic type of machine adaptedfor this purpose together Iwith views showing the different steps in the method as preferably carried out, like characters of reference indicating like parts in these various views. I

Figure lgis a front elevation of a garment pressing machine for the purpose offcarrying this method into operation, the machine being merely typical and the elevation being somewhat diagrammatic i character,

practically simultaneous aid Figure 2 is. a side elevation of such a machine, the view being of the same-character as Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a view of the same characteras Figures 1 and 2 and disclosing the plan.

therefrom and extending rearwardly and upwardly from the standard is an expansible form consisting of a center hollow body portion 12 and wings 1?; adjustable to and from the body portions in any suitable manner, as for instance by means of a shaft 14 having an operating crank 15 thereon, the shaft carrying a gear 16 which meshes with racks 17 attached to the wings 13. Suitable steam and exhaust piping 18 is con nected to these parts. in such a way that they may be properly heated, the exact arrangement not being of importance in carrying outthe method. Suitably pivoted adjacent the board is shown an iron 19 which is arranged to swing in a vertical plane and which has its under side beveled as shown in Figure 2 so as to make contact with the slanting face of the expansible form. This iron may be supplied with steam and the steam may be exhausted therefrom through pipes such as are shown at 20. it is to be understood at this time that the machine just described is simply a type machine resembling in its general construction machines which are at present employed for the purposes of garment ironing and that it is not desired to enter into the details of the construction further than to disclose such details as may be necessary to effectively accomplish the method now to be disclosed.

Also this board is provided with a collar band holder which consists of a stationary member 21 having an arcuate and inclined front and a clamp member 22 movable to surround or to leave clear this arcuate front, the clamp being actuated by suitable handle 23. Turning now to the particular method which formsthe subject matter of this invention it is to be'understood that this method is applicable to any garment having a body which is slit'from top to bottom and an open front shirt has been used as typical of this general form of garment. Accordingly it is to be understood that wherever in the specification and claims the term open front shirt is used this term is to be understood broadly. as including all garments of this general type. i

In the first step of the operation the iron 1'9-is inara-ised position clear of the board and the neckband clamp is open. The operator takes the-shirt and adjusts it over the onto the board as shown in Figure 6 and sufficient pressure is applied to the iron to cause it to effectively performits work. Since the iron moves in a perpendicular plane and its lower face and the board are inclined the contact of the iron with the board or form is in a line at an angle thereto so that when thispressure is applied the natural yielding of the parts to" a slight d'egrce permits aslight longitudinal movement of the iron along the board. This movement is; of course, very slight but in:- asmuch as the pressure of the iron is heavy this slight movement fully accomplishes the purpose. Now while the iron is in this position the operator expands the torm so. that the body of the shirt is thoroughly distended. Since either the iron, the board, or both may be heated the pressure exerted is a hot pressure. Sincev the garment is thoroughly distended all wrinkles and creases will be drawn out of the damp garment and by leaving the garment on the expanded form until it is thoroughly dry the finished garment will be smooth and 1111? wrinkled in the same manner asv though it had been ironed with an ordinary'hand iron. Moreover it will be noted that the pressure of the iron on the board is suificient to cause the edge portions of the opening in the shirt from slipping to any material extent. By this method experience has shown that the shirt when removed is completely and fully finished in regard to the body portion and that all use of a hand iron on this body portion is rendered unnecessary, every part of the shirt body being completely and properly finished.

There has thus been provided a simple and improved method of the kind described and for the purpose specified.

Having thus described the method and a type of apparatus for carrying the same into execution what is claimed as new, is z- ,1. That method of ironing a garment hav* ing an opening'from top to bottom through the material of said garment, which can sists in placing the garment upon a form with the edges of the opening in non-overlapping arrangement, applying pressure and heat to a portion of the garment adjacent said edges, and'stretching the garment laterally away from the point of application of the pressure and heat. g

2. That method of ironing. an open front shirt or the like, which consists in. arrang ing the shirt on a form with its front edges in juxta-position but with non-overlapping relations throughout their length, applying pressure and heat to'the shirt front adjacent its front edges, and stretching the garment 7 heating the clamped portion, and stretching the garment laterally away from said clamped portion.

4. That method of ironing'an open front shirt or the like, which consists in arranging the shirt on a form with its front edges in juXta-position but in non-overlapping relations throughout their length, clamping the front edges of the shirt to the form by a pressure suflicient to hold said edges against any material lateral movement, simultaneously heating the clamped portion, and stretching the portions of the garment adjacent'the clamp laterally.

5. That method of ironing an open front shirt or the like, which consists in arranging the shirt on a form with its front edges in parallel spaced relation throughout their length, applying pressure and heat to the bosom portion of said shirt, the pressure being sufficient to hold the shirt on the form against lateral slipping. and stretching the shirtlaterally adjacent the pressedportion.

6. That method of ironing an open front shirt-or the like which consists in arranging the'shirt on a form with its upper edges in juxtaposition but in non-overlapping relation throughout theirlength, and applying pressure and heat to the portion of the shirt adjacent said front edges by means of a pressing member movable into engagement with the format an angle thereto whereby to produce sliding pressure on the shirt front. I i

7. That method of ironing an open front shirt or the like, which consists in arranging the shirt on a form with itsfront edges in juXta-position but in nonoverlappingrelation throughout their length, applying heat and pressure to the portion of the shirt adjacent the front edges by means of a pressing member movable into engagement with the form on an angle thereto whereby to produce sliding pressure on the shirt front, and stretching the portions of the shirtadjacent the pressing member.

8. That method of ironing an open front shirt or the like, which consists in arranging the shirt on a formwith its front edges in junta-position but in non-overlapping relation throughout their length, applying heat and pressure to the portion of the shirt adjacent the front edges by means of a pressing member movable into engagement with the form at anangle thereto whereby to produce sliding pressure on the shirt front, stretching the portions of the shirt adjacent the pressing member, by stress exerted laterally away from said pressing member. In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

CECIL H. BOYULS. 

